Category: Thame news

THAMES’S local planning authority has been told it must bring forward more detailed proposals on where 800 new homes in the district should go. This follows the conclusions reached by the planning inspector appointed to examine the council’s Core Strategy.

Following a public meeting last week, the inspector concluded there were no circumstances in South Oxfordshire to justify the council?s reliance on a supply of housing from unallocated (windfall) sites, in the final five years of the plan to 2027 and it would therefore be ?inconsistent with national policy?.

In a statement today, South Oxfordshire District Council stated: “By including an allowance for these windfalls the council had sought to reduce the number of houses on new greenfield sites. The council had consulted extensively on its proposals and local communities had supported this approach.

“The decision to hold some of the examination in early November is welcomed, as this will help keep the core strategy timetable on track. However, before then the council must come up with and agree a response to the inspector?s conclusions. Over the summer the council will seek views from the community on its response and submit everything to the inspector in time for him to recommence the proceedings on 1 November.”

Cabinet Member for Planning, Angie Paterson, said:
?We have done our best for our local communities to strike a balance between providing the housing we need whilst also allowing for assimilation into existing communities. The inspector?s approach is a major disappointment not just for us but also for the communities we have previously consulted on our proposals. We can?t change the situation or the numbers we are going to have to provide. Although the inspector has referred the problem back to us to resolve, under the current planning system he still has the right to decide what the numbers should be and whether we are proposing to put the homes in the right place. We therefore need to plan together where the additional houses might go. I want to work with community representatives to come up with a solution to this problem so that we make the decisions rather than let the Planning Inspector do so for us. It is in all our interests to work together on this. If we do not have a plan in place then we will be open to speculative developments across the District.”

In the new circumstances, the government?s planning inspector will now hold some of the examination hearings in July and the remainder in early November.

To view the timetable for the Core Strategy and background, visit:
http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/services-and-advice/planning-and-building/planning-policy/core-strategy

RAMBLERS using a popular bridleway route have given the ‘thumbs up’ to a new bridge installed by Oxfordshire County Council?s Countryside Service.

The bridge, used regularly by walkers, cyclists and horse riders, is on a route near Thame, linking Sydenham village to Aston Rowant, Kingston Blount and Chinnor. The bridleway is locally known as Sewell?s Lane.

Construction work involved replacement of the old bridge ramps using cost effective plastic ?railway sleepers? as bearers to help prolong its life. Drainage in the surrounding area has also been improved to tackle flooding issues which had been causing access problems at certain times of year.

Costs for the project, including materials and machinery came in at under

HERE is the latest Thame neighbourhood update from Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Thorne and PCSO Jackson.

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) Info:

The most common way we can deal with incidents of ASB is by issuing ASB warning letters, acceptable behaviour contracts (ABC?s), anti-social behaviour orders (ASBO?s), Section 27 orders ? direction to leave locality, and Section 59 orders – contracts issued for using a vehicle in an anti-social manner.

During May, no ASB warning letters have been issued to any member of the public and no alcohol has been confiscated. No Section 59 warnings and no Section 27?s have been issued.

It has been highlighted that ASB is occurring at the cricket pitch therefore this will be closely monitored.

We are still receiving complaints regarding litter and broken glass on Southern Road recreation ground. This area is on our Patrol Plan and offenders will be dealt with accordingly. There are plenty of bins provided, so please use them!

We have noticed fresh graffiti around the town. This is not tolerated and carries a heavy fine.

Priorities:

Our Local Priority for Thame is ASB. As stated above, we conduct high visibility patrols in and around the town, engaging with members of the public, listening to local people?s community concerns/issues. Where problems are brought to our attention, we conduct home visits with parents present, issue warning letters and work with offenders to encourage them to move forward.

Following a Have Your Say (HYS) meeting, residents of Chilton Vale estate have voiced their concerns over parking opposite a junction. PCSO Jackson has liaised with Highways and Traffic Management, who are attending the location to assess the situation with the possibility of suitable road markings being put down.

Offenders brought to justice:

Eight offenders have been brought to justice

1 x Criminal Damage
1 x Threats to Kill
5 x Shoplifting Offences
1 x Harassment
Crime Mapping:

The Home Office national crime mapping website gives the public access to street-level crime information as well as information on their Neighbourhood Policing Teams, Neighbourhood Priorities and Events – details of Have Your Say and other neighbourhood activities. Log on to www.police.uk, type in your local postcode or neighbourhood name and then click on ?Find out more?.

Partnership Activity:

We continue to work with our partners, ensuring that we liaise on a regular basis with the schools on our sector, who we have good rapports with. We conduct monthly site inspections with Soha, South Vale Housing and Sovereign Housing, tackling low level neighbourhood disputes. We engage regularly with the local Town Council, picking up any local concerns people raise and events which are taking place over coming months.

Pubwatch meetings continue to be held every two months and Country Watch meetings are held quarterly.

Non Partnership Activity:

PCSO Jackson attended Barley Hill School on 6 May to deliver a short talk to the foundation year group. This was very enjoyable. She also met with a small child care group to introduce herself and say hello to the children.

Due to us providing a visible presence for the majority of our shifts, we engage with our local community daily, allowing us to talk with people and deal with any issues they have.

Planned Activity:

We have participated in the following operations during May:

Maginot – this operation continues to run, tackling travelling criminals entering and leaving our area.

Due to an increase in thefts from vehicles in the Thame area and surrounding villages, we have been deploying the Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) device at dedicated times and providing a highly visible police presence aimed at deterring and preventing offences taking place, offering reassurance and assisting in the capture and prosecution of offenders.

ANPR is a powerful tool that can help prevent crime by identifying flagged vehicles.

Benefits of ANPR

ANPR identifies suspect vehicles that may not normally attract police attention.
Unlicensed or uninsured vehicles are likely to be seized on the spot by ANPR equipped officers.
It can be used to gather intelligence on known criminals, and for running pro-active operations using dedicated Roads Policing intercept teams.
ANPR cameras are not safety cameras – they are not used by Thames Valley Police to catch speeding or otherwise law abiding motorists. ANPR cameras are not used to generate money for the Government or other agencies.

Magpie – this operation involves checking parked vehicles in local car parks for valuables left on display.

Mangrove – this is running initially for eight weeks as a result of fuel thefts from heavy goods vehicles over recent weeks in our local area. This operation involves us carrying out static patrols in key areas at key times in marked vehicles.

Good News Stories:

We were pleased that the local Music in the Park event was well received and enjoyed by all those who attended. Police were not called to any incidents throughout the day, and it was nice to see many local people coming together in good spirits to enjoy the music.

Community Messaging:

This free service provides information to subscribers about crime and police activity in their area via phone or email. It also includes information on what we and our partner services are doing to bring offenders to justice or combat anti-social behaviour, and information on opportunities for local residents to raise concerns with their local policing teams. More information can be obtained via our website, and you can sign up here too: http://www.tvpcommunitymessaging.org/rmwebportal/startup.aspx

Have Your Say online

You can now send non-emergency messages to us using the online form that is available on the Thames Valley Police website. A number of people have already sent their concerns using this method. For you to do that please follow the link: http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/yournh/yournh-about-nh-pol/yournh-tvp-pol-area-n235-hys. Please allow some time for us to get back to you as we do check our mail box only at certain times of the day.

There is also the opportunity to attend Have Your Say meetings in person. Upcoming ?Have Your Say? meetings are:-

Thursday 16 June 2011, 2pm ? 4pm at Thame Town Hall with PCSO Jackson
These meetings are an ideal opportunity for local residents to speak to their local police officers and PCSO?s about any local issues, no appointment is necessary just turn up and speak to your local officers. Further meetings will be publicised locally and on the force website at www.thamesvalley.police.uk

If you want any advice or would like to contact the neighbourhood team you can call us on the police non emergency number 0845 8 505505 or email ThameNHPT@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk. Please note this email address cannot be used to contact Thames Valley Police to report crimes or for any urgent matters. Alternatively you can visit the force website at www.thamesvalley.police.uk to view information on your neighbourhood.

SOURCE: Contributed

THAME Town Council has recommended approval of a replacement planning application to move Thame cattlemarket to the Thame show ground in Kingsey Road – despite some reservations!

The new plan is very similar to a previously approved planning application which runs out in a few weeks, except that the applicant, R G Williams (TCM) Ltd, propose to move the entrance a few metres along the Kingsey Road.

The application has however, attracted over 100 letters and on-line representations from local residents and others, which can be viewed on SODC’s website at:
http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/ccm/support/Main.jsp?MODULE=ApplicationDetails&REF=P11/E0622 where details of the application can be viewed.

At Tuesday’s meeting of Thame Town Council’s Planning & Environment committee, Cllr Nigel Champken Woods said that he felt the plan still does not address problems that could arise because of the access, and that he feared the development would add to existing problems for vehicles leaving Lea Park.

Cllr Mike Welply was concerned that foul water drainage into currently unadopted drains on Lea Park, from the Cattlemarket could cause problems.

Cllr David Dodds said that he thought the associated buildings would be “decidedly more visible in the landscape” than the previous plan.

Cllr Helena Fickling pointed out that a Bund was included in the plan, but that there appeared to be no provision for pedestrians and cyclists to the access.

Councillors were also concerned that there was insufficient parking for the regular big sheep sales and other larger events.

The plan will next go to SODC’s planning committee shortly which will decide whether to approve the plan or not.

Sainsbury’s are currently consulting the public before submitting a plan for a supermarket on the site of the current Cattlemarket in North Street.

PRELIMINARY talks about building additional new homes that may be required, on land currently part of Lord Williams’s school, have been taking place.

Comments from the Government Inspector looking at the proposed Core strategy for future development in South Oxfordshire, have indicated that more than the so-far estimated 530 new homes for Thame may have to be allocated to the town because so-called ‘windfall sites’ (unplanned for sites that may become available for housing in the future), may not be taken into consideration when estimating the number of houses planned for.

If that was to happen, the planning authority’s preferred site, Site F where the old pig farm in Oxford Road opposite Lord Williams’s Upper school was, would not be big enough and other alternatives would have to be looked at.

Jake Collinge, Consultant to Thame Town Council, speaking at a meeting of the council’s Policy and Resources committee last night, revealed that talks are “on-going” between Thame Town Council, the county council, the school and South Oxfordshire District Council about the possibility of “a super-site” school being built at upper School, leaving the lower school site available for additional housing.

The Town Clerk, Helen Stewart, in answer to a question about timing from Cllr Vaughan Humphries, pointed out that any proposed site would have to be shown to be available for development, within the next couple of months before it could be considered in the Core Strategy.

Cllr Adam Buckland suggested that a new primary school would be needed if the possible new figure of around 850 new homes were to become a reality.

Some town councillors had wanted the Core strategy to be delayed until the Localism Bill had been published and its own Town Plan produced but this could take 18 months. The pressure is on SODC to get its Core Strategy in place very soon before the current CS expires and there is a loss of planning control over development in the district.

The Inspector’s examination continues and there will be more public meetings and consultations before the matter is settled.

PUT ‘Core Strategy’ in the search box, top right home page of Thamenews.net to see all background stories and useful links on this subject.

THAME’S Member of Parliament, John Howell, has spoken about his pleasure at meeting the President of the United States, when Obama visited Westminster Hall last week.

In his blog, John says: “I had an opportunity for a hand-shake and a brief discussion when President Obama came to visit Parliament on May, 25. The President addressed both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall and spoke about the shared values between the UK and the US. The President also covered the role the two countries have played in a range of international situations.

On leaving Westminster Hall, the President stopped to speak to a number of MPs and Peers. The Speaker introduced me to the President. It was a great pleasure to meet the President and to exchange a few words on his speech. The speech had covered wide ground and it was good to have a chance to show my appreciation for it.

This was the first address in Westminster Hall by a President of the United States to Members of both Houses of Parliament.”

NEW bins are to be installed around Thame which will enable people to recycle cans, paper, plastic and glass items. The bins each have three compartments ? two for recycling and one for litter ? and aim to make it as easy as possible for people to recycle while out and about. They have been funded by South Oxfordshire District Council and Oxfordshire Waste Partnership.

Verdant, the waste contractors, have been working with town councils to decide the best locations for the new bins, and once installed, Verdant will be responsible for emptying them as part of their street cleaning programme.

For more information visit www.southoxon.gov.uk

SOUTH Oxfordshire District Councillors and planners have had there first run-in with the Planning Inspector who will pass judgement on the council’s Core Strategy for housing and economic development for the next 16 years.

Following a preliminary public meeting last week to sort out some issues of ‘soundness’ that the inspector has with the CS, SODC has since taken issue with his view that the council cannot rely on so-called ‘windfall’ sites coming up in the future to provide some of its allocation of new homes between 2022 and 2027. (Windfall sites are sites suitable for development but are either too small for inclusion in the council?s core strategy or their particular availability cannot be predicted at the time the core strategy is prepared.)

The Inspector has also recommended that the next Hearing be postponed from July to November to give SODC time to address some of his other areas of concern.

(See his full statement via LINK below)

In a statement today, SODC said: “Following extensive consultation across the district last year the council decided that because it can be predicted that many homes will come forward on windfall sites, they should be included as part of the supply needed for us to meet our housing ambitions for the district.

“This approach was welcomed by local communities in the district as it meant smaller numbers of homes had to be allocated to named sites.”

District Council Leader, Ann Ducker, said: ?We listened carefully to the concerns of residents about the impact of large developments. We want housing growth to meet the needs of our new households and to fuel jobs growth but it is important that new neighbourhoods are assimilated gradually into local communities with infrastructure to match.

?Our preferred approach was to allocate specific sites to meet in full the housing numbers for the first 10 years and this was strongly supported in the consultation responses. We are absolutely confident that enough homes will be built on windfall sites to allow us to reduce the impact made by large scale housing sites.

?However, we?ve been told we have to allocate all the homes for the next 15 years to named sites. We don?t think this is within the spirit of localism, when we had found a solution that our communities supported.?

Following a meeting at the council?s offices on May 17, the inspector has written to the council giving his views on main parts of the council?s Core Strategy. He has told the council that its approach to allocating the required housing numbers is inconsistent with national policy which states that windfalls can only be counted if it is not possible to identify specific sites for years 11 to 15 of the plan period.

Cabinet member for Planning, Angie Paterson, said: “It is very disappointing to see the conclusions the inspector has drawn on our use of windfalls. It is not the council’s wish to make changes to the housing numbers for larger sites but it is being required of us by the decision of the planning inspector. We are considering our options on how best to take matters forward.

?Changes need to be made that address the points raised by the planning inspector. I can reassure residents and businesses that we will ensure that there is an opportunity for them to feed into this process with their comments.

?Given that this is about our strategic sites, this primarily affects our two market towns of Wallingford and Thame. We have previously explored the potential for Site B in Wallingford to accommodate more homes than are currently allocated and will be looking at this again. Certainly, such an option would not require any additional greenfield sites to be released around Wallingford.

“At Thame we will explore the potential for sites within the town to provide sufficient land. And we
will have to allocate more housing to the larger villages too.

?Within the next few days we will release further details about what we intend to do to address the matters raised by the inspector. This will include details of when and how the public will be able to express their views on the proposed changes.?

Visit SODC’s website HERE to view all documents and relevant information about the Core Strategy

NB

The core strategy is a 15 year plan setting out how the council will help deliver housing, opportunities for employment and thriving town centres across the district. It makes recommendations for development in the main towns Wallingford, Thame, Henley and Didcot. Didcot is designated as a growth point and is set to
take the primary focus of development, taking approximately 2330 new homes over the next 15 years.

THE bonds of friendship between Thame and its twin town of Montesson, near Paris, were further strengthened last weekend when they celebrated their tenth anniversary.

Among the dignitories assembled at a special reception for the group of 31 visitors to Thame and their host families on Friday 13th, was Oxfordshire MEP James Elles, who was at the very first inaugural celebrations at Thame Barns Centre in 2001. Both James Elles and the Mayor of Montesson’s Deputy, Hougette Fouche, were welcomed by the Chair of Thame Twinning, Jeannette Matelot Green and the new Mayor of Thame, David Bretherton. All spoke warmly of the affection and mutual understanding that has grown over the ten years of exchanges betweens the two towns, including groups exchanges between choirs, football and the emergency services.

After a toast of English wine (supplied by Waitrose, Thame) to the future success and growth of twinning, the group moved on from Thame football club to the Lambert Arms for a fish and chip supper – and mushy peas which seemed to go down very well with the French!

On the Saturday, a coach trip to London took the group on a river cruise from Westminster to Greenwich and back, during which the forecast thundery showers kept away and the more hearty travellers were able to view some of London’s more iconic and historic buildings from the top deck of the river cruiser. The highlight of the river trip was the opening of Tower Bridge to allow a tall boat to pass under – a rarer spectacle these days and one which the boat very obligingly stopped for to allow a frenzy of video filming and photography.

The French like to shop! Especially when they get the opportunity to visit London, so the stroll around Covent Garden with its many interesting stalls and varied shops, was ‘right up their street’ and they were very happy to contribute their euros to the retail economy of our capital city!

Sunday was the final day of our French guests’ stay, and after a visit to Waitrose for the purchase of such rareties as mint sauce, lemon curd and Cussons’ Imperial Leather soap, it was off to Thame museum for a special exhibition put on to celebrate the tenth birthday of twinning, ‘The French Connection’. This included a facinating section to the French about Thame citizen, Arthur Staggs who worked so heroically with the French Resistance behind enemy lines during the second World War.

A final celebratory lunch of English dishes, Steak and Kidney pie, fish pie, and a vegetable and bean pie, was shared in St Mary’s church which was transformed into a banqueting hall. The fact that all the food was eaten – including the favourite, Strawberry Eton Mess, is testament to the wonderful preparation and quisine of What’s Cooking in Cornmarket, Thame, wonderful ambassadors for good, English cooking.

Many guests had made a special effort to dress for the occassion, some French ladies in particular who wore fascinators on their heads in homage to the recent Royal Wedding, for which apparently they had been as avidly glued to their TVs as the English the weekend before. A special birthday cake was made by Michele Diffey of Thame Safari Group, some of whom will be travelling to Montesson in September for the return visit to Montesson. The young people from Safari had very successfully entertained their counterparts from le foyer Coulis with a live band, dancing and a buffet the night before.

Finally, after a group photo-call outside the Prependal at Priest End, Thame waved ‘au revoir’ to our French ‘twins’ after a wonderful weekend of convivialty and friendship.

Vive le jumelage!

PHOTO: MEP James Elles (Left) Mayor of Thame Cllr David Bretherton

THAME’S Music in the Park exceeded all expectations in terms of visitor numbers, enjoyment, money raised, and even weather!

“Feedback from visitors and local residents has been fantastically positive,” said Steve Gunn, one the organising team, today. “Indeed, in the weeks since the event, it has not been uncommon for the organisers to be stopped in the street to be congratulated for putting on a ‘well-organised, thoroughly enjoyable day’. The Music in the Park Facebook site has also been inundated with positive comments.” LINK

Steve continued: “The organisers had hoped to get 1,000 people. As it turned out, over the course of the whole day, more than 1800 people went to enjoy the varied and excellent music, as well as the other attractions. In excess of